Web of Lies
by WildWithin
Summary: Sky has a secret that his friends can never know. But his time to hide is quickly running out. How long will it be until they tear down his web of lies, and when they do, will they even accept him? T for swears and brief violence.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Alright, here's my latest fanfic. If anybody's wondering, yes, I will finish it, because it's already been written out! No writer's block or annoying hiatus for you guys to wait through! Without further ado, here you go! :D**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 1: A Boring Day

Today was a rather calm day. The weather was clear, the squids weren't bugging anybody, there was plenty of budder to go around, and there were no new minigames or parkour maps to try out. In short, my friends and I were suffering from a bad case of boredom.

"Ugh, I'm so bored!" I yelled out, breaking the silence in the room, where I was hanging out with my two bestest (that's a word, quiet you) friends in the whole world, Ty and Jason. We were in the living room of my little old house on the very outskirts of town, tucked away in the woods. I didn't mind that it was old and I didn't need much space, plus I liked the quiet woods, so it was a nice place to live. Deadlox watched from his spot on the wool couch as I walked over and took a seat, only to swing myself around so that my head touched the floor and my feet rested on the back of the couch, all with my hands folded casually in my lap. Jason chuckled and bounced on the sofa a little, and Deadlox stared at me.

"What're you doing, Sky?" he asked.

"Being bored," came my reply.

"How about we play a game?" Jason suggested.

"Sure!" I said, and folded my hands behind my head. "Let's ask each other stupid questions!"

"This is gonna end badly," Jason muttered as Ty said he'd go first.

"Okay, now listen closely, Sky," he began in a very serious tone, "this is a very important question, and I need your full honesty, or else the world will blow up or something." I nodded, suspecting that he was planning something. "Okay, here's the question: what color is my underwear?"

I burst out laughing and fell face-first off the couch, landing on the floor with a loud thud, causing Ty and Jason to crack up as well. After taking a moment to compose myself, I stood up and looked at Deadlox.

"What kind of question is _that, _Ty!?" I asked.

"A question."

"This went downhill so fast," Jason snickered.

"What? It's a question!" Deadlox defended, standing up.

"Well, Sky wouldn't know unless he's a stalker," at this moment, I used the five inches of height I had on him to my advantage and loomed over him with a creepy grim plastered to my face, and my friend recoiled in mock-terror. Being a tall person is fun. "So, it was an unfair question," Jason ruled. "So, Sky gets to steal Ty's headphones."

"Yes!"

"What!?" Deadlox yelped just as I swiped his black headphones right off his head. I immediately ran out of reach and put them on, brushing my bangs over my left eye as best I could.

"Look guys, I'm Deadlox!" I exclaimed, hopping up and down obnoxiously. Jason laughed as Ty deadpanned at me.

"Fine! Then I get Sky's sunglasses!" Before I could react, Deadlox tackled me to the floor. Jason laughed hysterically as we wrestled on the floor.

"Give it back!"

"Never!'

"Ouch!"

"Quit poking me!"

"Stop tickling me!"

Jason finally had to separate us. "Okay! Okay! Knock it off!" he said, pulling us apart. I still had Ty's headset, but now Ty had my sunglasses. My eyelids were firmly squeezed shut. "Give them back, both of you," Jason told us.

I was the first to comply, and took off the headphones and handed them back to their rightful owner. I felt them leave my hand as Ty took them back, and I assumed that he put them back on his head afterwards (I couldn't be sure, because my eyes were still closed).

"Now gimme my glasses," I huffed, hand outstretched to receive them.

Deadlox paused, and looked at the pair of dark sunglasses in his hands. He'd been friends with Sky for years, but had never once seen his eyes. They were always hidden behind those dark sunglasses. Deadlox grinned; this was his chance to find out.

"If you want your glasses, you have to answer a question," he told me.

"Ugh, fine!" I said.

"What is your eye color?"

I froze. Nobody had ever asked me. I didn't know how to respond. I couldn't lie, but I couldn't just tell them the truth; they'd know my secret. The idea of somebody else knowing my secret wasn't appealing to me at all. My secret getting out had already caused one bad thing, and I didn't want another.

"Hah, come on dude. Ask a real question!" I told my friend, feigning a casual tome. I heard fabric rustling, and assumed that Deadlox had crossed his arms. "Uh, please?" I heard a foot tapping on the wood floor. "Honestly!?"

"Answer my question, and you can have your glasses back," Ty said. "And don't lie."

"Does it really matter?" I dodged his question, groping around blindly for my sunglasses. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell that Ty was moving them out of reach.

"Show me, then."

"Come on! Just let me have 'em!"

"Alright, Ty," Jason finally spoke up. "Give him his glasses back." I heard Deadlox huff, and I felt my glasses drop back into my hand. I quickly put them back on and opened my eyes to see Ty looking at Jason with an unhappy expression. With a shout of triumph, I stuck my tongue out at Deadlox. He just rolled his eyes, and soon everyone was back to goofing off like nothing had ever happened.

Eventually Ty and Jason had to leave, and I waved them off from my front porch as they pulled out of the driveway and drove down the lonely road. I watched down the road where they had disappeared even after they were long gone, then let out a quiet sigh. I stood there and mulled over the incident with my glasses.

That had been way too close. If they'd found out my secret, if Jason hadn't intervened, I didn't know what I would've done. There were only two people who knew my secret. One of them had run away because of it, and the other was only friends with me because he knew what really happened when _It _happened. I didn't want to lose another friend because of _It_.

They could never know, ever.

…

**A/N: So, what do you think? Like it so far? Trust me, you guys are gonna love where this is going. :D Also, I love receiving reviews on my stories, and I love hearing what you guys think about my stories, but so few people actually tell me, so I'm starting something new for my multi-chaptered stories: I'll have story questions at the end of each chapter for you guys to answer in the reviews section!**

**Story questions!**

**Why do you think Sky hides his eyes?**

**What do you think his secret is?**

**Who do you think are the two people who know Sky's secret?**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: On with the second chapter! But first, I'll respond to some reviews!**

**To NellisEllis: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

**To Kazotheninja (guest): Great guesses! Thanks for leaving a review!**

**To xEnderAwesomex: I'm guessing someone likes quizzes. :D Great guesses, but I'm not revealing anything yet! ;) Also, thanks a lot for the feedback! :D**

**To Rosie (guest): Thanks for leaving some feedback! Those are some really good guesses!**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 2: Puzzle Pieces

I yawned as I sat up in bed, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight filtering in through the window. I hadn't slept well. I'd had that dream again. It always played out the same: someone found out my secret, and I wasn't accepted. The dream always ended with me being cornered by my own friends, all looking down at me with anger and disgust. I never saw what happened after that, that's when I always woke up. I hated that dream, along with a multitude of others that plagued me nightly. They were constant reminders that I couldn't let anyone find out.

Yesterday, my friends had almost seen my eyes. I'd been pretty on-edge for the entire rest of the day, and I'd spent a good two hours of the night awake, worrying about what would've happened if they'd actually found out. They'd still accept me, right? But, what if they didn't? What if they told the recruits? What if they drove me away? Or _worse?_

I shook my head; I wasn't going to continue thinking about such things. They were my friends. They'd totally accept me. Besides, there had to be _somebody_ who'd accept me if my secret ever got out. With that bit of reassurance, I hopped off my bed, got changed into my regular outfit, and grabbed my sunglasses from my bed stand. As I brought them up to my face to put them on, I caught a glimpse of my eyes in the tinted lenses.

My eyes were what would reveal me. They were different. No matter how I disguised myself, they'd remain the same.

I pulled my mind from the direction it was inevitably heading- someone finding out- and adjusted the paper crane on my nightstand before walking downstairs. I wasn't really hungry, but I grabbed an apple from the bowl of fresh fruit in the kitchen. With the fruit in hand, I walked out onto the little front porch to enjoy the morning.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there was a light breeze that gently ruffled my hair. Yep, today was gonna be great. The only thing that could ruin it was the squids.

I wondered what they were up to.

My brow furrowed at the thought of my slimy, water-dwelling nemesis. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have been in that awful mess all those years ago. It was _their _fault, not _mine._ Yet, I was the scapegoat. Of course I was.

I squeezed the apple in my hand. I wanted revenge for the squids' evil acts. I doubted I could come up with equal punishment for what they did. They hadn't even needed to lift a single tentacle, and suddenly I was being hunted down and tortured for something I was innocent of! They would pay!

I closed my eyes and took a few slow, deep breaths to calm myself. That was all in the past. There was no way to change it. I opened my eyes again and idly watched the clouds float by. My hand felt wet, and I realized that I had completely crushed my apple in my mental fit of anger.

I dropped the mangled fruit into the bushes edging the porch and wiped the apple juice on my pants. I glanced around, hoping that nobody had seen that, even though I was positive I was alone.

Nobody could just crush something like that, without even thinking about it. That kind of strength wasn't natural under any circumstances. I hid it as best I could, but I could recall a few times I'd almost been found out. It was hardest to hide during rounds of parkour. Regulating that kind of strength to get a normal jump when faced with a plummet to certain death wasn't easy.

"Hey Sky!"

That voice snapped my out of my melancholy mood, and I saw Ty running down the pathway to my house. "Dude, everyone's waiting for you!"

"Huh?"

"We were all gonna play a round of Teacher, remember?"

I facepalmed. "Did I seriously forget?"

"Apparently," Ty muttered. Come on, we're already late!" I practically vaulted over the porch railing to run after him when he ran back the way he came. I caught up with him quickly.

"Try not to set the gym on fire this time, will ya?" I asked as we ran. Deadlox laughed.

…

Deadlox, everyone else and I popped into the classroom as the first round of Teacher started. Ryan had joined at the last minute, and he was the teacher for this round.

"Hello everyone, I'm your teacher for the day," Ryan greeted casually as he stood up at the teacher's desk at the front of the room. "Now, today we're gonna be learning about-"

"SPITBALLS!" Jerome hollered and began lobbing spitballs (snowballs) at Ryan.

"Hey! That's not proper classroom etiquette!" Ryan yelled, and began to chase Jerome around the room, who was still shooting spitballs. "Bad Bacca!" I stood watching for a moment, and then turned to see Ty already running out of the room.

"Ty, wait!" I yelled and ran after him, unintentionally alerting Ryan.

"Get back here!"

"Sky, I'm in the gym!" I turned and ran into the gymnasium to see Ty standing in the middle and holding a fire charge. He grinned impishly.

"Ty," I began.

"You know I'm gonna," he said as he grinned from ear-to-ear.

"Come on, Deadlox, don't start this agai-" Ty lit the gymnasium floor on fire. "Damnit, Ty."

"What the heck? Why is the gym on fire!?" Ryan yelled, finally dashing into the room and covered in spitballs.

"Ty's causing property damage!" I blurted obnoxiously and pointed at him.

"You have no proof!" he yelled and ran into the library as Ryan took off after him. I heard a crash back in the classroom, and I ran out of the gym, leaving Ty to fend for himself. When I got back to the classroom, it turned out that nobody had even bothered to leave the room, as they were all engaged in a huge spitball war. The crash was apparently because Jerome had tipped over a bookcase to use as a bunker. I got an idea, and smiled impishly.

"Hey, guys!" I called, and the fight paused (except for the random spitball that hit Quentin in the side of the head) so that they could hear what I had to say. "Let's all gang up on the Teacher!" Everyone cheered, and we all ran out of the room, led by me, to go get Ryan. Once we got to the gymnasium, I told my friends to hide behind the wall so Ryan wouldn't see them, and they held back small snickers and giggles as they ducked out of sight. I calmly strolled into the library to see Deadlox trying to clamber onto a bookcase, avoiding Ryan.

"You can't just set the gym on fire like that!" Ryan yelled, and tried to grab Ty's foot to yank him down.

"Help!" Deadlox cried dramatically.

"Don't worry, Ty! Help has arrived!" I shouted in a dramatic, stereotypical hero voice. With a dramatic pose, I pointed at Ryan. "Attack, my comrades!" At that moment, everyone else jumped out from their hiding spots and poured into the library, all shooting spitballs at Ryan.

"Holy Notch!" Ryan screamed as he got pelted with spitballs and knocked to the floor. Ty jumped off the bookcase and dashed out of the room.

"To the Principal's Office!" he called. "Before Ryan gets us!" everyone ceased fire and made a mad dash to the other end of the building.

"Hey! Get back here! School's not out yet!" Ryan yelled, and I only laughed maniacally along with my friends.

"Catch me if you can!" I yelled, turning around and sticking my tongue out at him. Everyone was piling into the Principal's Office to escape, and Deadlox and I were last. "Oh boy! He's right behind us!" I yelled, just barely making it into the room with Ty. We sprinted down the escape passage, clambered up the ladder, and out into the courtyard. "We made it!" I cheered. "That was too easy!" Then I realized that Ty was not the one behind me.

…

Deadlox popped back into the classroom, and he huffed with disappointment. Ryan had gotten him. He was so close! Oh well. Since the buddy system was required to get out of the school and he didn't currently have a buddy, Ty decided to wait for someone else to get caught. To pass the time, he looked aimlessly around the room. His gaze drifted over to the group photos hanging on the wall. Every time they played a minigame, they took a group photo and hung it somewhere in the starting area. It was kind of like a timeline of pictures, as the date and the names of everyone in the picture were written on the back. Ty could see that today's picture had already been hung up, right next to the one taken the last time they had played this game.

Now that he took a good look at the pictures, Ty noticed something off about them. He couldn't quite tell, but it just felt like something was off. He walked over to the photos to take a better look at them. He looked carefully at the one taken today. Alone, nothing seemed abnormal about it.

He began comparing it with the others, starting with the most recent ones. As the picture got older, the off feeling became stronger. Whatever it was, it had something to do with time. But, other than that, he had no idea what it was he was looking for. It was so frustrating! Ty huffed and placed the older of the two pictures on the wall. Maybe the oldest would be of help? He walked over to the end of the row, to the picture from the very first time they had played this game.

Immediately, something very odd stood out.

Comparing his younger friends to his friends of today made Ty realize one glaring thing.

Sky hadn't aged a bit.

Everyone else showed some sign of getting older: different haircut, different style of clothing, a change in height or figure. Not Sky. He literally hadn't changed. But, that's impossible. Everyone grows older. _Everyone._ But not Sky.

Ty put the pictures back in their rightful places. He needed to think. He sat down at a desk and ran his hand through his long bangs. How was this even possible? It couldn't be a camera trick, because now that he thought about it, Sky was unchanged in his memories as well. Sky's appearance today was the same as it had been the day they'd met, more than five years ago. _Why didn't he age? _Maybe it had something to do with him always hiding his eyes?

Now that he thought about it, Sky would also opt out of any Survival Games they played, along with a few unrelated minigames. There was also the matter of how truthful he was. He never lied (sarcastic remarks not included), he was unusually kind to anyone and everyone, and he was very protective of his friends. Those traits may just be his personality, but they were a little extreme. He was _always_ there to help, he _always _told the truth, and he _always _stepped in and stopped any fight they got in.

This was kind of like putting together a puzzle, but it was incomplete. He had to find all the other pieces. He only had five.

Yes, five.

The issue with the glasses, the overprotectiveness, the truthfulness, the kindness, and the apple.

Ty saw what happened on the porch, hidden behind a tree. Sky had completely crushed the apple in his hand with what looked like no effort at all. Sky was hiding something, Ty was sure of it now, and he intended to find out what.

…

**A/N: So, we find out a bit more about Sky's little secret, and Ty's catching on! Things are gonna start to get really interesting really fast!**

**Story questions!**

**What do you think the squids did to Sky?**

**How strong do you think Sky really is?**

**Why do you think Sky doesn't age?**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I have no idea what to write here, so I'll answer questions!**

**To Scdoodles: Ah! Thank you leaving a review! I'm really glad you like my story! :D**

**To NellisEllis: Thanks for the second review! Also, about your second answer, how much very are we talking about? XD**

**To Noobypro12: I can personally guarantee that that did not and will not happen.**

**To powertothepeople: Interesting guess. We'll see if you're right later on *evil laughter* *chokes***

**To Aanon (guest): Thanks for leaving **_**two big **_**reviews! :D A lot of your guesses came really close to what I have planned, and yes, I've got some major surprises planned for you guys. :D**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 3: Suspicious Activity

I popped into the classroom with a scream. "Dang it, Quentin!" I crossed my arms and pouted childishly.

Ty gave me a funny look from a nearby desk.

"He shoved me out of the way and Ryan got me," I explained, and Ty nodded blankly. He then glanced over to where the pictures were hanging on the wall. I figured I had accidentally startled him with my screaming. I grinned sheepishly. "So, uh, wanna do the great escape?" I asked, and motioned towards the classroom door.

"Actually, wanna screw around a bit?" he asked.

"Sure! Screwing around is- not my middle name," I finished lamely. _Seriously?_

"Then what _is _your middle name?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "It's Fredrik."

"Fredrik?" Ty repeated with a raised brow and a grin.

"Yup," I said, popping the 'p'.

There was something ever-so-slightly off about Ty. The way he moved, the way he looked at me, the tone in his voice all told me that he had just made some sort of discovery or inference that had seriously changed the way he viewed me. This was very concerning, but I made sure not to show it. That would only make him more suspicious. Had I slipped up? What did he know? How did he know what he knew? Did he _know?_

"Hey, Ty?" He looked over to me. "Is something bugging you?"

He took a moment to think before responding. "Well, I was thinking back to yesterday, when you kinda freaked out when I took your glasses," he began. Of course that was it. "Why'd you do that?"

"I'd… rather not say."

"You keepin' secrets?" he asked, eyeing me dramatically.

I laughed. "I guess you could say that. Everyone's got secrets, some bigger than others, some more able to share than others."

"Can you share it, then?"

"I can, but I'm not gonna. Not right now."

"Later?"

"Slim chance." Ty was visibly disappointed.

"Come on, why not?"

I let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "I'm not comfortable with sharing it. Not yet, at least. Maybe in the future, but not yet. You're my best friend, Ty. Normally I don't pick favorites because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I'm not lying when I say that you're my best friend." Ty looked like he wanted to say something, but I kept talking. "Everybody's got some kind of secret, and everybody's gonna judge somebody at some point. I'm not telling you my secret because I'm afraid of being judged for it. So, I hope you can understand and forgive me, but I'm not telling."

Ty looked at me like I'd grown a second head, probably because I never said stuff like this. Soon he told me, "well, if that's how you feel, I'll respect your decision."

I smiled warmly. "Thanks, buddy."

Suddenly everybody popped into the classroom, totally oblivious to what Ty and I had just been talking about.

"Next round! I'm the teacher!" Quentin shouted. "Alright everyone, take a seat!" As everyone else sat down at the desks, I literally took a seat. I picked up the nearest seat and began walking towards the door with it. Several of my friends started snickering. "Sky, what are you doing?" Husky asked, folding his arms.

"I'm taking a seat," I explained with a smile.

"Uh huh, and where exactly are you taking it?"

"Uhm," I thought for a moment. "To the library!" I dashed out the door with an idiotic grin, holding the chair above my head as I raced down the hallway towards the library. Quentin chased after me as everyone back in the classroom was howling with laughter. As soon as I was in the library I plopped the chair down by a bookcase and clambered up before Quentin could get me. On top of the bookcase I was on, I saw one of those long wooden pointer-sticks that teachers use to point at stuff, so I grabbed it just as the Mudkip hoisted himself onto the shelf.

He pointed his sword at me and said, "surrender now or prepare to die!"

"Nope!" I pointed the pointer-stick at him as if it were a sword. "En garde, fish!"

"I'm an amphibian!" We swung at each other, marking the start of an epic battle.

I really had no clue what I'd been expecting, because his sword sliced clean through my pointer-stick. I stared at the little wooden handle in my grip as Quentin just deadpanned at me.

"Well, crap," I finally muttered. I began to hold up my hands in a surrendering position, then came my screech of "UNTAMABLE!" as I leapt right off the bookcase and booked it (BASK IN MY WIT) out of the library. Ty was standing in the hallway, and as I ran past I yelled "pointer-sticks don't make good swords!" and tossed the handle to him. He looked at me with a really confused expression as I skidded to a halt by the classroom door. "You can't punish me if I'm back in the classroom!" I said, stepping through the doorway.

"Yes I can, you left without my permission!" Quentin argued, catching up and blocking my way out.

"So did they." I jabbed my thumb towards the Principal's Office just as Jerome and Ryan disappeared inside. Husky then realized what had just happened, vowed to kill me later, and chased after them as I waved. Ty waked over and gave back the pointer-stick handle.

"Wanna ditch school?" he asked.

"Of course I do!" We laughed and calmly strolled to the Principal's Office and out of the school. Jerome, Ryan, and Jason were all running around as Quentin chased them, and we had yet to join the chaos. I had a different idea. "Wanna go hide out on the woods and see how long it takes them to find us?"

Ty grinned. "Sure." Careful not to be seen, we edged around the side of the building before making a break for the woods surrounding us, snickering and giggling like idiots. We found a nice spot high up in a tree, near the school but a good ways into the forest. From here, we could see everyone running around near the school exit. After a while, someone must've noticed our absence, because everyone grouped up for a minute and then split up. I snickered when nobody came in out general direction. Hidden up in the tree, we watched everybody run around looking for us.

A positively brilliant idea popped into my head. I flashed Ty an impish grin, he saw and responded with a facial expression that clearly stated, 'whatever you're planning, don't.' I went ahead with it anyways.

"LEEDLEEDLEEDLEEDLE!" I shrieked, and Ty nearly jumped out of the tree from surprise.

"What the hell are you doing?" he hissed quietly as I watched all our friends jump and look around.

"We gotta give them a hint, right?" I whispered back. "It's kinda unfair if we don't." Ty seemed to consider this for a moment, then shrugged and yelled out his own nonsensical gibberish.

"OOGITY BOOGITY!"

"BOOPEEDOOPEEDOOP!"

"AGPHLAGAFLABBADABBA!"

"SCREETA DOI!"

"TRANSA-BLABBA-FLABNORP!"

Everybody began running towards where we were, but neither of us noticed; we were too busy seeing who could make the most ridiculous noises. So, it was no surprise that I ended up laughing so hard that I fell right out of the tree.

Ty's laughter immediately ceased and he shouted down "holy shit, are you okay!?"

"I'm fine, but now my butt hurts!" I said, pushing myself up. Ty was climbing down as I stood, just as everyone else reached us. Everyone was really worried about be because of how high up the tree I'd been when I fell, but I kept telling them that I was fine. _Of course _I was fine, there was no reason for me not to.

The round of Teacher was pretty much over by now, and when Jerome had to go leave to go somewhere, we all ended up going home. Well, I stayed a bit. Even though we had that talk earlier, I needed to find out what Ty had found out, and I did.

_The pictures, of course._

How could I be so _stupid!?_ I was such a simple, yet blatantly obvious mistake! There was no way to undo it, the damage had been done, here and in every other minigame arena I've played in. I cursed myself for not having seen and prevented this before it happened. Seeing it was easy, preventing it was hard. After all, willing myself to age was impossible.

…

**A/N: So, Sky had confirmed that he doesn't age. What else will be revealed next chapter? Trust me, chapter four's gonna be wild.**

**Story questions!**

**Do you think Ty will keep his word and respect Sky's decision?**

**Now that we know more, what do you think Sky's secret is?**

**How is the story so far?**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Happy holidays, everyone! I hope you guys got some great stuff! I GOT A WII U! There are gonna be some serious Super Smash Bros matches going on soon! Anyways, I have a feeling that you'll like this chapter. :)**

**To NellisEllis: Thank you for clarifying the amount of veries we are talking about. XD And I'm glad that you like my story!**

**To xEnderAwesomex: Hello again! I accept your hug! *hugs***

**To ConEmber: You're the third person in a row to say that Ty isn't trustworthy. XD You liek Mudkipz too!?**

**To httpkirby: Thanks for sparing my ears and the caps lock button. :) Thank you for leaving a review!**

**To Manias 3.0: Thank you for leaving some feedback, and I'm glad you like my story!**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 4: Memories and Dreams

I lay on my bed in my house by the quiet forest, staring up at the ceiling. I was mulling over what had happened during and after the round of Teacher. Would Deadlox still try to figure out my secret? I hoped not. He said that he respected my decision not to tell, but he never mentioned anything about trying to find out on his own. Not that I had any doubts in him- okay fine, I has a small doubt, but I knew that I had to me way more careful with my secret from now on. What had I done wrong?

I needed some advice.

I closed my eyes, and the violet gem in my amulet began to glow faintly as I contacted an old friend. We had gotten these amulets in case we needed to get in touch in an emergency. The two amulets could connect an entire continent apart with no loss of communication quality. Not to mention, my friend and I didn't even have to speak aloud to hear each other; the amulets created a psychic link between us, so thoughts and feeling could be conveyed without fear of eavesdropping. It was quite a handy little amulet.

"_Sky? What're you up to?" _came the voice of AntVenom, and my lips twitched into a smile when I realized what language Ant was communicating in. We were very suspicious of eavesdroppers even with the private mental link, but that didn't stop us from conversing in a totally different language.

"_Nothing much," _I replied, keeping my tone relatively neutral.

"_What's bothering you?" _ AntVenom immediately questioned. He was very good at reading my feelings across the link.

I sighed, _"I think Deadlox is catching on to my secret."_

"_Why?"_

"_He seemed really suspicious of me during the minigame we played today," _I explained. _"Those pictures we take every time we play, he must've really looked at them and saw that I don't age."_

Ant took a moment to process this information, and then I heard him mutter, _"we're such idiots."_

"_I know."_

"_You don't think he's ready to know, do you?"_ Ant guessed, but we both knew that it wasn't a guess.

"_I talked to him and he said that he'd respect my decision not to tell, but…" _I trailed off, not knowing how to put this into words. _"Ant, I'm scared."_

"_Why?"_

"_What if he finds out and-"_

"_He doesn't accept you?" _AntVenom finished. _"Sky, he's your closest friend. You guys are as close as you could be; he'll accept you."_

"_But what if?' _I argued. _"You know as well as I do that there's still a possibility that something won't go well."_

"_We've gone over this: just call me, and if things only get worse we'll call your brother for help." _I winced a little at the mention of turning to my brother for help. It wasn't that I didn't want his help, but I couldn't imagine my friends' reactions if he actually showed up. That would definitely be something to remember.

"_Listen, if you'd like, I can join in the next minigame and tell you if you're getting too reckless," _Ant offered.

I gaped. _"You'd do that for me?"_

"_Of course, that's what friends are for," _AntVenom assured. I let out a sigh of relief.

"_Thanks, dude."_

"_No problem," _he replied. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up again. _"When are you going to tell them?"_

"_I can't tell them," _I said quietly. "_It's too soon."_

"_Sky, you said that three years ago."_

"_I know, but I…" _I trailed off. Only once had I been brave enough to tell someone my secret.

It hadn't ended well, not at all.

"_Dawn," _Ant sighed quietly. I remembered that night so well. Dawn and I had been out for a walk in the forest. The night had been perfect. No clouds, a full moon, fireflies everywhere and every star shining brightly. It was what anyone would call a perfect romantic setting. We had been walking along in the moonlit forest, talking and giggling about silly things. Things had been going so well, but everything had gone so horribly wrong within a single minute. Dawn had told me a secret of hers, and I worked up the bravery to tell her mine. Looking back, I have no idea what possessed me to make such a stupid decision.

I remembered in perfect clarity the look of betrayal and horror on her face. She ran away and left me alone in the clearing.

In the weeks after, I'd been heartbroken, and locked myself in my room. Ant had been the only person I'd been able to confide in. It had taken weeks to get back to my normal, hammy self.

"_I still have that letter," _I said softly. A few days after that fateful night, I had received a letter from Dawn. She said that she wouldn't tell anybody as long as I stayed away from her. I had sent a desperate apology note, only to have it 'returned to sender' because nobody lived where the note had been sent to. Dawn had disappeared without a trace, and it was all because of me.

"_It's been a while. Your friends wouldn't do that to you," _Ant said, trying to drag me out of my dark memories.

"_How do you know that?" _I asked dejectedly. AntVenom couldn't find an answer. All we really had was hope. _"Ant, I can't tell them."_

"_Then what are you going to do? Just keep them in the dark their entire lives? You can't do that! Besides, somebody's gonna figure it out before then," _Ant told me. _"Sky, you have to tell them soon. Humans only live for so long."_

AntVenom was right. It would be best to tell. The sooner, the better. It would save a great deal of trouble in the future. But, I didn't want to have to go through what happened with Dawn. The emotional toil of that one rejection had almost been too much for me. But dealing with the rejection of all of my friends at once…

It would be too much for me to handle.

Ant could sense that I needed some time to think alone, and the psychic link faded as I debated each painful decision. Tell them soon and risk a devastating rejection, or keep my secret and wait anxiously for them to find out on their own, possibly never. I wanted to tell them, I really did. I hated keeping secrets from anybody. But, the possibility of not being accepted was a painful truth I'd have to deal with.

With a morose sigh, I let myself drift off to sleep.

_Deadlox and I sat on the hillside together, underneath the young, lone oak. The sun was setting, casting vivid rays of light across the darkening sky. Near the bottom of the hill were the woods by the town we lived in. I felt myself smile at the pretty sight, but inside, I was remorseful._

_I hated this dream. I hated it so much._

"_Pretty sunset, huh?" Ty commented, looking out over the landscape with a smile._

"_Yeah," I sighed, "too bad they don't last longer."_

"_That would be nice," he agreed, watching the sun begin to dip below the horizon. "They don't last long enough."_

"_A lot of stuff doesn't last long enough," I replied. "Sunsets, weekends, fun games… I could go on."_

"_Life doesn't last long enough," Ty added. I turned to him. He looked at me and smiled. "Wouldn't it be cool to live forever?"_

_My smile faded instantly. "No," I answered. I turned away._

"_Huh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at me with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean? You'd have all the time in the world, and you'd never have to worry about dying."_

"_That's true," I began, "but the only thing worse than dying is living forever. Sure, you'd have all the time in the world, but you'd have to watch your friends and family grow old and die, and you'll miss them for all eternity."_

_Ty's expression changed to one of sad understanding. "Wow, I never really thought about it that way," he responded quietly. We looked back at the sunset, as the very last slivers of light were fading away. "Now that I think about it, I guess living forever wouldn't be as cool as I thought it would be." We sat in silence for a few moments. "I'm happy I won't live forever, aren't you?" The very last shaft of dying light was swallowed up by the horizon, and I turned to my friend with a heavy heart._

_Ty wasn't there._

_Where my friend had once been stood a faded gray tombstone, cracked with age and overgrown with weeds and pale lichens. Carved into the front in weathered letters was a name._

_Tyler 'Deadlox' Ellis._

_I stood up and looked around, feeling tears well up in my eyes. Down the hill, the forest had been cut down and the town demolished, leaving only a barren field of dying grass and dust. The once young oak had grown gnarled and twisted with age and its leafless branches and decaying trunk showed that it had died long ago. Surrounding me were millions of aging tombstones, all in the same poor condition. Each stone was engraved in faded letters with a name. Everyone was here, all my friends and every single recruit and more. All were here, except for my own._

_I'd outlive them all, and miss them for all eternity._

"_They never found out, you know."_

_I turned around to see AntVenom standing behind me. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he looked down at me with a grave expression._

"_You waited too long. Now it's too late."_

_Tears rolled down my cheeks and fell into the dying grass. I sank to my knees. "I know," I choked back a sob._

"_You should have told them."_

…

**A/N: I sincerely hope I did a good job at creating some vicious feels, because there's more where that came from.**

**Story questions!**

**Did you expect AntVenom and Dawn to know Sky's secret?**

**Just curious, does anybody think they know what language Sky and Ant were speaking?**

**What did you think of the dream?**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello once again! Thanks so much for the reviews and favorites and follows, all of you!**

**To Sumalinara: I'm glad you liked it!**

**To xEnderAwesomex: Merry holidays to you as well! And sorry, but they weren't speaking the language of the mobs, but that was a really good guess!**

**To httpkirby: More fanfiction is on the way. Rawr.**

**To Manias 3.0: I'm happy that you enjoyed this chapter, but I'm not accepting OCs for this story. Sorry.**

**To Guest: Thanks for reviewing! Good guesses! Sorry, but there's no Skylox in this story. ;)**

**To NellisEllis: There's more feels on the way, brace yourself.**

**To Noobypro12: Could you elaborate?**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 5: What's Wrong With Sky

I awoke with a jolt. My breath hitched in my throat and my cheeks were wet with salty tears.

I hated that nightmare. I hated it so much. But, it came all the time.

I threw the covers over my head and breathed slowly, trying to calm down.

Life was so unfair. Why couldn't I have a normal friendship? One where we could all grow up together at the same speed? One where I didn't have these awful nightmares? I didn't know what I'd give to be like my friends. They were so lucky, just living normally like they did. They didn't have to worry about much. Their lives were short, their problems were small, and they were always having fun. They were just being human. I couldn't do that; my worries were growing with every passing day. There were just too many worries and problems now. I just wanted some relief. No more problems, no more worries, no more secrets-

"_Hey, Sky!"_

I nearly jumped when Ant's voice across the link startled me.

"_Wanna go play some Cops n' Robbers?"_

I sighed. _"Not right now, Ant." _I wasn't in the mood.

"_Dude, I'm gonna help you, remember?"_

I sat upright. How could I have forgotten?

"_I'll be over in a second, Ant!" _I called, jumping off my bed and nearly losing my sunglasses in the process. I was out the door and of to play.

…

Jerome and I both popped into 'The Dead Cell' after getting shot down by the warden again. It was five minutes into the second round, and now Ssundee had joined. He was the warden, and so far, nobody had gotten to the boat, though Jason and Ryan had gotten pretty close.

"Guys, help!" I shouted from the cell. "The warden killed us and now I'm stuck with a Bacca!"

"It's not that bad, Sky! Get in the toilet with me!" Jerome shouted, and promptly jumped in. He didn't care that he was now soaked up to his knees. I began laughing and called for help again. Suddenly, Quentin popped into The Dead Cell with us.

"Yeah! The Mudkip's here!" I cheered, pumping my fists into the air.

"I was so close!" Husky complained, pouting. "I almost got to the boat!" He folded his arms.

"Aw, it's okay!" I said patting him on the back. "You can join our toilet party!"

"WOO HOO!" That was Jerome, who then began trying to splash us with toilet water. I screamed in a totally-manly way and hid behind Husky. We were eventually forced to take refuge on the opposite side of the cell for a few minutes.

"Well hello there, troublemakers," Ian said in a low, menacing voice as he strode up to the cell door.

"It's the Warden!" Jerome yelled, hopping out of the toilet and getting toilet water everywhere. Yicky. "Let me out! I've been a good boy!" he pleaded.

"No! You clogged the showers with your fur again!" Ian said. "AUGH!" He was suddenly tackled by Mitch, and Ant ran up and unlocked the cell door.

"Go guys, run!" Mitch cried and knocked Ian's diamond sword off the balcony as we fled.

"PRISON BREAK!" I screamed as I bolted out of the cell and down the walkway, just as Ian knocked Mitch into The Dead Cell and slammed the door. Ant proceeded to open it. Ian slammed it shut and Ant opened it again before running away with Mitch close behind. Ssundee whipped out his bow and shot a volley of arrows at us. I ducked to avoid them, and a shout from behind me told me that Bajan was in The Dead Cell. Again. I couldn't do anything about it, because I had already jumped off the ruined part of the balcony and was racing down the hallway with Ant, following Jerome's trail of toilet water. Also yicky.

"Get back here you guys!"

"Never!" I was running too fast and almost ran straight into the kitchen, but stopped myself just in time and ran down the hall to the Warden's Office. Ant was suddenly running next to me.

"Slow down a little," he whispered, and I realized that I had been going a little faster than what was considered normal.

I slowed down and thanked him. He just nodded as we reached the Warden's Office. The door was flung open and Jerome, Husky, and Jason all raced out and practically trampled us. They almost took off down the hallway, but Ian was blocking our escape.

"Got you guys cornered," he taunted with a smirk.

"Aw, shit," I swore, getting up and dusting my shirt off. "Well, I guess it's time for Plan B."

"What's Plan B?" Husky asked.

"Scream like little kids and run!" I whipped around and ran away from Ssundee whilst screaming like a little kid, and promptly got sniped in the back. I popped into The Dead Cell where Mitch was calling for help. "Well, that didn't work out too well," I remarked to myself.

"What didn't work out too well?" Bajan asked.

"Plan B."

"What's Plan B?"

"scream like little kids and run."

"Ah."

"So, have we been left for dead?" I asked, noting the silence in the general area outside our cell.

"Nope, somebody's coming," Mitch replied, and pointed to the corridor leading into the room. I didn't need any hints as to who it was. I could recognize those greed headphones anywhere.

"You're free!" Ty yelled as he ran up to where we were imprisoned, and flipped the lever to let us out. I cheered in gratitude as we escaped, and we all jumped down to the main floor of the prison. "Okay, before we go, I have bread!" he shouted, and began throwing what looked like half the kitchen's bread supply in the air.

I sang, "it's rainin' bread, Hallelujah! It's rainin' bread, amen!" Mitch was laughing as he ran up and collected his fair share of the bread before all three of us raced down to the Warden's Office. There was a commotion upstairs, and I wondered what was going on.

Once everybody had stepped on the pressure plate, we all rushed out and ran upstairs. The commotion was this: Ian was standing in front of the door to the basketball court, Quentin and Jerome were on either side of him, throwing 'Discipline' (an enchanted stick) back and forth over Ian's head in some sort of Monkey in the Middle game. Ian was yelling at them to give it back, and they were just laughing as the tossed it back and forth. Ian's diamond sword was lying at the far end of the hallway, and Jason was nowhere to be found.

Ian finally lost it and tackled Jerome, sending Discipline flying into the air. Husky caught it and ran onto the basketball court with a laugh, and Ian chased him out onto it. Mitch helped Jerome off the ground and they both ran for the exit as the Mudkip threw discipline in the air for Ian to catch, and bolted back into the hallway. Ian caught the weapon just as I slammed the door shut, locking him out.

"Hey!" Ian's shout of protest was drowned out by our laughter as we ran.

"See ya later, dude!" I yelled. Now everyone was in a rush to get to the boat before Ian got to out of the basketball court.

Deadlox, AntVenom and I were climbing down the ladder, Mitch was running down the gravel pathway, Jason was already on the boat, and Jerome and Husky were waiting for him to lower the ladders. Hey, this was actually going pretty well! This is about the fastest we've all escaped before!

All of us were wither at or almost at the climbing-down-parkour portion of the escape when Ian was spotted running towards us. He had his bow out and an arrow at the ready.

I urged everyone to go faster and let Deadlox jump down onto the nearest platform before I would go down after Ant. I turned to see Ian's arrow fully charged for a perfect shot. He let it fly, but just a moment too soon.

"Attention players," an automated voice spoke, "the respawn machine for this arena is temporarily down."

The arrow was in the air, and heading right for me. Time seemed to slow down, yet my mind flew at an impossible speed. I didn't have time to jump out of the way. I acted on instinct.

"Please cease all activities and hold in place until the respawn machine is active again."

The arrow embedded itself in the stone brick support with a solid _thunk._

Everybody had seen it.

Ian dropped his bow in shock, and Deadlox watched the tiny violet Nether particles drift down where Sky had once been standing.

Now, he was standing on the same stone platform as Deadlox, with a few Nether particles swirling around him. The gem in his amulet was glowing fiercely.

"Sky, you… You teleported?" he breathed.

"No, I- I did… It was…" I could barely form coherent words as I stepped back.

"You're not normal, are you?" That wasn't a question, that was a statement.

Everything was going wrong.

I needed to get out of here.

I took a step back but there was nothing to step on, and I screamed in fear as I fell backwards. The respawn machine was still down. They all thought I would die. Deadlox had reached out to grab me, but he accidentally grabbed the amulet.

The golden chain snapped.

Sky plummeted to the bottom, but only his sunglasses hot the stone floor with a _crack. _Everybody had seen him teleport to safety in another swirl of Nether particles.

But they had seen something else, too.

As soon as that amulet's chain had been broken, Sky had changed, and turned into something completely different. Everybody had been watching and everybody had seen with their own eyes, but nobody could believe what they'd seen.

He wore a cyan shirt and had glowing white eyes.

…

**A/N:** **AND THE SECRET IS REVEALED!**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: The truth has been revealed… How will everyone react? We're gonna find out right now…**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 6: The Truth Hurts

"Does anyone know what the Nether just happened?"

"His eyes were glowing! And he teleported!"

"Is he being possessed?"

"I think he is!"

"Can we all just please calm down?"

"We gotta go save him from that demon!"

"Guys! Didn't you see what happened when his amulet came off? What if Sky's been Herobrine this whole time!?"

"Don't say His name! Now that Notch-damned demon will be after us!"

Deadlox stood off to the side as everyone else argued and shouted and panicked. They were all on the stone bridge; Ant had used commands to teleport everyone to one spot after the respawn machine had been fixed. Deadlox hadn't moved from the spot he's been warped to. He just stared at the amulet in his hand, too shocked to do much else. He was still trying to cope with the fact that Sky, his best friend, had literally turned into the most feared God in all of Minecraftia right in front of everyone.

The subsequent realization hit him like a truck.

_This was Sky's secret._

"Why in the world would He want to start up a YouTube account?" Jerome asked.

"He's been making an army with His brainwashed subscribers! Duh, He's evil!" Mitch responded.

"Then we have to stop Him!" Husky added.

"How the Nether are we gonna stop that monster!?" Jason asked worriedly.

"Guys, please just calm-" AntVenom got interrupted again.

"We gotta tell the recruits about this!"

"Team up!"

"Find Him and save Sky!"

"Kill Him for messing with our friend!"

Ant finally snapped.

"EVERYBODY SHUT THE HELL UP AND LISTEN!" And they did. "Nobody is killing anybody!"

"Then what are we supposed to do? Wait around for Him to come back and kill us all!?"

"No! Just listen!" Nobody did, they were even more panicked.

"Why aren't you worried? Sky's in danger!"

"Maybe Ant's against us too! He's the only other person with an amulet!"

"Dude, is this true!?"

"What does your amulet do? Are you another evil deity!?"

Ant looked at Deadlox hopelessly, who still hadn't uttered a word. He seemed too shocked to do so.

Everything was falling apart.

He needed to get everything under control, and fast. But first, he needed them to trust him again.

"It's just a dumb old amulet, look!" Ant told them, and ripped it off and threw it to the ground at his feet. "See? Nothing happened; I'm still the same person." The others saw this and some of them nodded in acknowledgement. Now that he was in a better light, Ant continued. "Listen, the reason why I don't want you guys running off and hunting Him down is because you're panicked. Panicked people make stupid decisions." There was a quiet murmur of agreement from the back of the group. "Plus? What about Sky? You don't even know what happened." That was the truth; _they_ didn't know what just happened, but _Ant _knew exactly what just happened. "If he actually is possessed and we just run up and attack him, he'd be the one getting hurt."

"So, what do we do?" Quentin asked nervously.

"Don't tell the recruits, don't tell anybody," AntVenom began. "We have no idea how they'd react, and if something went wrong _we _could be the ones being hunted down. We should just all calm down and figure this out without making any rash decisions."

"Shouldn't we leave the minigame first?" Jerome asked.

"Yeah, let's all meet up at my house."

"Wait, what if He's there!?"

"Then we don't attempt anything rash," Ant said, knowing that the one in question would be as far away from here as possible, "and just try to reason with Him." Everyone seemed very apprehensive about that plan, but they seemed to agree.

Everyone was teleported out of the minigame.

…

_Evil._

Rain pelted me as I huddled against the dying tree.

_Demon._

Wind whipped at my clothing and threatened to blow over the few feeble structures still standing.

_Monster._

Lightning ripped across the sky and thunder roared above my head.

_Kill him!_

Those words hurt. They hurt like swords being plunged through my heart, and I knew what that felt like.

My own friends wanted to kill me. Just like in the nightmares. Soon everyone will be after me.

I glanced down to where the familiar amulet should be hanging from my neck, slightly illuminating my gray commander's outfit. It wasn't there, and in place of my usual outfit was an easily recognizable torn cyan t-shirt and indigo pants with ripped-up knees. Even my body was different; my tall and able-bodied disguise was gone now, replaced by someone of a much more meager frame. I couldn't help it; I've always been a little too… little. My older brother has almost a foot of height on me.

Funny, any human would consider me just a little above average height.

I wished I could just put on my amulet and change back into my other identity, but I didn't have my amulet to do that; Ty had it. The secret had been blown right there, everybody saw what happened. I actually stuck around, hidden in the branches of a nearby tree to see their reactions and decide whether it was safe to show myself again, but I had heard too much to take. There was no way to go back and fix things, they'd kill me. Just like they said. Perhaps this was for the better? They'd continue on just fine without me, I'm sure of it.

I looked around in the dim light. The charred remains of ancient buildings and the dark, abandoned castle stood as grim reminders of what happened that fateful night. That night was when _It _started.

This used to be a lovely little kingdom, filled with busy people happily going about their daily lives. I still remembered sauntering casually around the town square chatting with merchants and entertaining people with various magic tricks.

This town was where I made my first real friend. His name was Ben. He had dirty-blond hair and bright green eyes, and we had so much fun together. We'd start all-out snowball wars in the plaza during the winter and the whole village would get involved until it got dark, and the bartender and his wife would make hot chocolate for the whole village. We'd have tree-climbing contests with the children in the village (we always let them win), and we'd sneak into the pastures to chase the chickens (and say hi to the baby animals) until the farmer's wife shooed us off. We'd stage dramatic and obnoxious mock-fights that took us up onto the roofs of the buildings, and wove fantastic and mostly-untrue tales of our adventures across the world together, and just generally made life in the village unpredictable and fun. But we didn't just goof off all the time, we helped out a lot. We'd take odd jobs in the village and defend people who got stuck outside when the monsters came out. We'd also help the townsfolk catch their most valuable good: squid eggs.

The lake wasn't too far from here. Every summer those navy blue animals would swarm the lake to breed and lay eggs, and we'd just wade in and scoop the eggs up until none were left. In those times squid eggs were considered a delicacy. Now it's too dangerous to harvest them without risking attack.

At the time, nobody had expected the squids to be sentient creatures, not even me. We never saw the water animals watch as we walked back to town, containers loaded up with stolen eggs. We never suspected that the squids were plotting their revenge.

I had been in the bar that night. Not to drink, I didn't like alcohol. I had been there to chat. A bar fight broke out while I was talking to one man. I tried to play peacemaker, but drunken men are stubborn and they continued to fight. They shouted and threw punches and insults as I put myself between them. Someone threw a beer bottle and it smashed on my arm. A few other, more sober men in the bar intervened and broke up the fight as I walked out to clean the beer off my arm. I had almost left town when I heard something get knocked over in an alleyway nearby. I quietly walked over to investigate.

That had been a mistake.

I was caught off guard, and gagged and pinned by slimy squid tentacles. I smelled smoke and tried to shout an alarm, but they clamped my mouth shut as they used stolen torches to light the buildings on fire. I heard people begin to scream and panic. The castle was on fire. The village was on fire. The burning buildings on either side of me collapsed suddenly and fell right on top of me. I was unharmed but the squids were killed instantly. The alcohol on my arm had caught fire and the squids' blood had spattered on my shirt. I clawed my way out of the wreckage of the burning buildings and surveyed the village in horror. The whole place was burning to the ground, people were trapped and dying, and I was furious. The squids would pay for doing this to the village I loved.

But the townspeople hadn't seen the squids light the buildings. They saw me. I was the one standing unharmed atop the burning wreckage with a flaming arm and blazing eyes.

That all registered when I found arrows in my chest. I was sent tumbling off the building and into the grass behind it. That's when I saw Ben. He looked at me with shock and betrayal. He hadn't seen the squids either. I pleaded with him, I begged him to believe me, but he just shook his head with tears in his eyes. Someone came up behind me and knocked me out.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a prison cell. Every part of my body was restrained with enchanted metal chains. They said that the King had died in the fires, and that I was the one responsible for all this. They said I had gone insane. They called me a monster. My cries for mercy fell on deaf ears as they punished me as they saw fit. It was in those following two weeks that they discovered that a God cannot die from a mortal's punishments.

When Ben finally came for me, I was too weak to ask for help. He undid my chains and tried to help me escape. He believed me now; he'd seen burned squids in the rubble of some wrecked building. That was three weeks ago, this was the soonest he'd been able to sneak in. We escaped under the cover of night, but we didn't get very far from the kingdom. The sentries saw us escaping on horseback and chased us through the forest, and attacked us. Ben…

He didn't make it. I watched my best friend die from a sword straight through the heart, and I was powerless to stop it. Those sentries dragged me back to the kingdom without even letting me say goodbye.

The kingdom's magicians had built a magic totem hidden in the ruined castle, and it was inside that totem that I was trapped. They sealed me inside with a spell that hid my presence from any and all. They had trapped me in a world of pure agony. The pain I had to endure while trapped inside that totem was unimaginable. It was that agony, combined with my rage and sorrow of losing Ben, which truly drove me insane. I was possessed by my own demons of revenge and madness.

Believe it or not, it was the young Derpollolus, new ruler of the sea, who finally freed me. He was much different back then, when we didn't have our rivalry. He had heard about what happened and traced the cause back to his own squids, who were punished for acting so rashly. They helped him find the totem and release me to ask for forgiveness of their actions.

All those years trapped within the agonizing confines of the totem had destroyed the benevolent entity they once knew, and I did something I regret with every fiber of my being.

In my deranged state, I attacked them.

Each and every squid who helped free me died in a raging inferno, and Derpollolus barely managed to escape my unjust wrath.

I wasn't myself those next few years. I don't even remember it; it's all a blurry daze. But I do know what I did, and what happened as a result. I waged war on the humans, enslaving the monsters of the night and even raising their dead to further the bloodshed. Entire towns were wiped clean off the map, and far too many young angels gained their wings because of me. In some places the trail of destruction still hasn't disappeared completely. This is one of those places. I can't believe the other half of the castle is still standing, with that huge ravine running through it. I think I may have been responsible for that.

It took Notch five years to finally defeat me. Where we fought isn't too far from here. The battle lasted a whole day. Notch wore me down to the point where I could barely stand. But not once did he try to kill me. He couldn't do that to his own brother He used his powers to save me, and drove my demons out.

When I was finally liberated from the totem's effects, I remember collapsing into his arms and sobbing into his shirt. I was so weak and hurt and scared. I was terrified of myself. I knew exactly what I'd done. I still don't know how he forgave me so easily. Monsters shouldn't be forgiven. I remembered wanting to just curl up in a corner and be forgotten, to fade away from Time itself.

I remembered wanting to _die._

But Time never forgets, and Time never forgives. The damage was done, and the humans now saw me as the devil from the pits of the Nether.

That's not how Notch saw me, though. He took me back home to the Aether to rest and heal in peace. I felt truly awful for what I had done, and fell into a long and grueling depression. I gave up on myself completely, but Notch didn't, and I can never thank him enough for that. He didn't give up, and was by my side helping me recover and come to terms every step of the way.

It was during my recovery that I met the young deity Ant. He felt so bad for me when he heard what happened. I remember his first visit. He had come in my room quietly and sat down on the edge of the bed. He introduced himself, asked me how I was feeling, and asked about stupid things like my favorite color and favorite animal. He had brought an origami book with him. He taught me how to fold paper cranes. He told me that in many places, they were a symbol of peace and hope. By the time he left we had folded over fifty as he talked on and on about trivial things. Every last one was still in my room, hung from the ceiling on little strings as if they were flying. Sometimes I lie on my bed and stare up at them, pretending that they really are flying.

It was only recently that Ant decided that I needed to make a human friend again. We were both painfully aware that humans hated me just the same as they had a long time ago, after _It _had ended. Not only that, the whole world had changed. Nobody used magic anymore, it was all technology. So, we had some work to do.

We created a disguise and an alias, named Adam 'SkyDoesMinecraft' Dahlberg. We had to learn all about what the world was like now, so that we could blend in. We even had to learn English. Before all this, I only knew Swedish. Ant and I still spoke Swedish when we talked through the amulets' link.

Before I knew it, I was in the park near my house, hesitantly introducing myself to the group of people who I'd come to call my best friends.

I hug my knees tightly as the flood of memories continues. I shouldn't be in the Overworld anymore. I should go home. I've made a mess of things. Maybe it would be best if I just disappeared and never came back.

A bright beam of light, not from any lightning, touches down nearby. My glowing white eyes meet Notch's black ones. He doesn't say anything at first; he just walks over to me. I stand up slowly and take a step forward, and suddenly I'm in his arms. I embrace him and bury my face in his shirt as he rubs my head.

"_Come on, little brother," _he says. _"Let's get you home."_

Just like that, we vanish in the beam of light.

…

**A/N: Here's some more feels for you in a chapter that I literally just realized is twice as big as the others. :/ By the way, any dialogue in italics is in Swedish, including all the psychic chit-chat in Chapter 4. So, without further ado…**

**Story questions!**

**What did you think of everyone's reactions in the beginning?**

**What did you think of Sky/Herobrine's backstory?**

**Do you think Sky/Herobrine's friends will accept him?**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: ONWARD INTO THE WORLD OF LITERATURE**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 7: Friendly Help

I stared up at the ceiling of my room from my bed, where I was laying on my back with my hands folded over my stomach. No, I'm not at my house by the woods, I'm at home. I turned my head to look out the window and blankly watched the aerwhales fly lazily between the clouds and floating islands. There are a few angels and Valkyries and assorted spirits flying around as well. I looked back at the ceiling and twirled my pointer finger gently, causing a small breeze to blow through the open window and sway the paper cranes suspended from the ceiling on tiny white strings. After a few moments of watching them in silence, I sat up with a heavy sigh. I needed some fresh air.

I slowly swung my legs over the side of the bed, but I didn't get up. I looked down at the carpeted floor and bit my lip. I wondered what my friends were doing, down in the Overworld. Plotting my demise, no doubt. It'd be best for all of us if I just stayed away.

But what about Ant? He was still down there, trying to fix _my _mess, and I had no way of contacting him. I didn't have my amulet, which meant no disguise and no way of contacting him. There was no way for me to know if he needed help unless I went down there myself.

I heard footsteps running down the hall, followed by frantic knocking at my bedroom door. I sighed silently.

"Come i-"The door was flung open and I suddenly found myself in a feathery bearhug.

"_Herobrine! You're back! I've missed you so much! Notch told me all about what happened, so I flew right over to make sure you were okay and see if you needed anything and-"_

"_Bodil, I can't breathe," _I rasped, feeling his hug growing tighter.

"_Whoops!" _the Bulgarian angel let go. _"Sorry about that, I got excited."_

"_It's okay." _I smiled weakly at him.

Bodil sat down next to me with a big smile on his face. I think he was waiting for me to say something else, because he looked at me expectantly. I didn't really want to talk. After a few seconds, his goofy grin fell and his white feathered wings drooped.

"_You're not well,"_ he said. I didn't reply. _"It's not that big of a deal, you know. So what if they found out? Just go down there and explain everything."_

"_That's not going to work, Bodil."_

"_How do you know that?"_

"_You know how humans are with me." _Bodil opened his mouth to object, but I beat him to it. _"That one cult in Southern Minecraftia doesn't count."_

"_They are pretty crazy," _he said thoughtfully. _"But your friends aren't."_

"_All the more reason someone would believe them if they told." _Upon hearing my stubborn negativity, Bodil had to resist the urge to grab the nearest pillow and scream into it. Instead, he let out a long, dramatic sigh. Then he stood up. _"What are you doing?"_

"_Cheering you up, sad sack."_Bodil grabbed my wrist and took off so suddenly he yanked me right off the bed. I stumbled after him as he led me out of my bedroom and into the hallway. I had seen the determination on his face, so I let him lead me to wherever we were going. Before we rounded the corner to take the staircase, I glanced behind me to glimpse the half-open door to Notch's bedroom. He had tried to talk to me earlier, but sensed that I needed some time to myself and so left me be. I wondered where my brother had gone off to.

Soon enough, we ended up in the rather large backyard. Though, backyard wasn't really the word for it. Notch's temple was indeed home, and every part of the island it was built on belonged to us plus Jeb, a few other gods, and my sister Jazz, but she has her own ice palace far up north. I remembered always melting the ice sculptures in her courtyard just to annoy her, but she'd always freeze my feet to the floor until they went numb, so I guess we could be called even at this point. I wondered what she was doing at the moment.

"_Why are we out here, Bodil?" _I moaned.

"_I'm gonna cheer you up," _he replied, and his wings fluttered excitedly as he let go of my wrist and did a little skip. His bright orange eyes were sparkling with happiness.

"_How?"_

He said nothing and did nothing, but there was a huge grin on his face.

Suddenly I heard wingbeats, and I cried out as something huge landed right on top of me. I knew exactly what it was, though. I could already feel a dorky grin tugging at my lips as I wiggled out from underneath the giant black paws pinning me, only to get nudged over not-so-gently and pinned again by a giant scaly muzzle.

In my sadness of most likely losing my new friends, I had forgotten just how much I missed my old friends.

"_I missed you too, Asmund," _I said, hugging my pet Ender dragon's snout. Bodil ran up and hugged both of us, Asmund's scaly tail lashed the grass happily, and we were all smiling like total dorkwads. _"Oh, I missed you guys so much."_

…

AntVenom paced back and forth in his room, worriedly biting his lip. How was he going to do this? How in the world was he going to tell everyone involved that Adam 'SkyDoesMinecraft' Dahlberg is actually Herobrine Fredrik Perrson? Telling something like this to your friends isn't exactly easy. It's the verbal equivalent of dropping a bomb.

This is his fault. He's the one who convinced Herobrine to return to the Overworld to give human friendship another try. He should have just let the god make that decision for himself. Just as Herobrine insisted, it had ended in disaster.

Ant sat down on the bed with a ragged sigh and buried his face in his hands. This wasn't just a disaster, it was a nightmare. He knew that everyone was gathered in the living room anxiously waiting for their missing friend to show up. Not Sky, they wanted ant. Ant had been the one to take charge, to tell them what to do, and had promised to tell them what was going on. He had yet to fulfil that promise.

There was a quiet knock on the door.

"Ant?" It was Deadlox. "Are you okay in there?" He sounded very hesitant as he peeked in.

There was a long, shuddering sigh from the one on the bed. "No, no, I'm not okay." A look of sympathy crossed Ty's face, and he stood in the doorway for another moment before walking over to sit next to Ant. He folded his hands in his lap and looked down. There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Ty was the one who finally broke it.

"You know exactly what happened, don't you?" The brunet looked over to Ant, who bit his lip.

"Yeah," he began, "I know." He had to force the sentence out.

There was a pause before Ty responded with, "so, is Sky okay?"

"He's okay," Ant looked down at his feet. "He's just…"

"Just what?"

Ant didn't respond. That uncomfortable silence had returned. Ty shifted a little, and then pulled something out of his pocket. Ant watched him gently handle the broken chain of the amulet.

"The amulet causes the wearer to take on Sky's appearance," he said suddenly. "Doesn't it?"

Ant nodded blankly. "That's what it's for."

"And if 'Sky' takes it off, he…"

More silence, this time longer.

"Is Sky even real?"

"Huh?"

"Sky! Is he even a person, or just some alias to hide behind!?" Ant jumped away from Deadlox, startled by his shouting. "Is he just some identity that Herobrine uses to snoop around in the Overworld? Huh!?" AntVenom didn't reply. "Please, Ant! Just answer me!" Ty stopped yelling when he saw a tear roll down his friend's cheek. "Ant? Ant, I'm sorry I yelled, I didn't mean to, I just-"

"Guys, what's going on up here?" Jason asked worriedly as he entered the room.

Neither of them answered for a long moment.

"Do you want to know the truth?"

They both looked towards AntVenom.

"If you want to know the truth, I'll tell you," he said.

"The… truth?"

"Yes, us gods and deities cannot lie, no matter what," Ant explained. Ty and Jason were taken by surprise by this. "I understand if you hesitate to answer. You're probably in some form of shock right now." He stood up and walked towards the door. "Come on, I'm ready to tell everyone what happened." Jason and Ty looked at each other, and then quickly followed Ant downstairs.

AntVenom told them everything, and they listened to every word.

…

**A/N: Today I learned that yes, it is possible to procrastinate on writing fanfiction for an hour while still writing fanfiction. Also I wrote the first half of this chapter listening to Yakety Sax at full-blast. Double-also I found out that Sky's actual last name is Swedish for 'valley-mountain' (Dal=valley, berg=mountain).**

**Story questions!**

**What do you guys think of Bodil's part in the story so far?**

**Does anybody remember Asmund (formerly Spike) from the drawing I posted on DeviantArt last year?**

**Does anybody recognize Jazz from my oneshot "Morning"?**

**What did you think of Ant's decision to share a secret that wasn't his?**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I have nothing to write here, except thanks for all the support!**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 8: Heart-to-Heart

I gazed out over the Aether's floating islands, leaning against one of Asmund's massive forelimbs. It was just us now; Bodil had left a little while ago because he already had plans for the day. My pet Ender dragon hadn't let me out of his sight for the past two hours. It was understandable, though; I had spent the past several years down in the Overworld with no visits back home. I felt bad for not visiting at all, but I had been having so much fun with my new friends and I'd been busy with my YouTube channel. Poor Asmund must've thought I died.

My dragon crooned and gently nudged me on the cheek with his snout, demanding my attention again. I reached out and scratched his chin, right where he liked it most. A low rumbly purr started deep in Asmund's throat, and he closed his eyes and enjoyed the attention I was finally giving him. Despite his comforting presence, I still felt awful inside.

"_Oh Asmund, what am I gonna do?" _I asked him. My Ender dragon only purred louder upon hearing my voice. I knew that I had to go back and face my friends eventually, I just wasn't sure I was willing to. What if they didn't accept me? Even if they did, would things go back to normal? Would they treat me differently, just because I'm different from them?

Asmund must've sensed my mood, because he crooned and nuzzled me. I smiled sadly and rubbed his big scaly head. At least dragons didn't judge.

We both heard something behind us, and Asmund raised his head to see what it was. It sounded like footsteps. After a moment, he deemed whatever was approaching to be a non-threat and went back to demanding my attention. I found out who it was when he sat down next to me.

"_I take it Bodil and Asmund cheered you up a little?" _Notch asked casually.

"_A little,"_ I replied, still rubbing Asmund's head.

"_But not enough to truly help you."_

"_No."_

"_I figured as much," _he sighed. There were a few moments of silence between us, then he asked, _"what is it that's holding you back?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_What's preventing you from returning to the Overworld and facing your friends?"_

"_I think you know what it is," _I muttered.

Notch nodded and said, _"I do."_

"_Then why even ask me?" _I asked, and turned away.

"_I'm asking you because I want to hear it from you."_

I looked back over to him, and then sighed. _"I can't return because I'm scared of what my friends think now that they know who I really am."_

"_Can't is a very strong word, little brother," _Notch told me. _"It's not that you can't return, it's that you won't return, and you're the only one holding you back."_

"_Maybe it's for the best," _I muttered.

"_You see? This is exactly what I'm talking about; you're holding yourself back."_

"_I'm scared that they'll reject me," _I confessed. _"I've been friends with them for years, they wouldn't do that to me, right?"_ I didn't know that I was expecting an answer, but I turned to him and asked again. _"They wouldn't do that, right?"_

"_I don't know," _Notch said innocently. _"Anything could happen at this point."_

"_You're not exactly inspiring confidence, you know."_

"_Well, everything depends on whether you face them or not. If you do, they may or may not accept you. If you don't, we'll never know."_

"_Didn't you once tell me that you could see the future?"_ I asked with suspicion.

"_I can, to an extent, but it's always changing. Right now, I can't quite tell you what will happen. Much of it is up to you, but your friends are making the final decision," _Notch explained.

"_So, what should I do?"_

"_I think we both know the answer to that one, little brother."_

Go back to the Overworld and face my friends.

It was much easier said than done.

"_Isn't there an easier way to do this?"_

"_You really doubt your friends this much?" _my brother asked with an incredulous look. _"From what I'm hearing, they don't sound like very good friends."_

"_No, they're amazing friends, all of them are," _I told him, and I meant it. Gods couldn't lie. _"They found out because I made a mistake. I messed up. They panicked because they weren't expecting it. It's not their fault, not at all. Plus, you know as well as I do that no human knows my true story."_

"_Why can't you just tell them the truth?" _he suggested.

"_I want to, I really do, but what do I even say? 'Sorry I ran off, I've been keeping life-changing secrets from you and everything you know about me is wrong'?"_

"_I'm sure one of them will understand," _Notch said to me, and rubbed my back.

"_That would be only one friend out of several, none of whom I want to lose," _I muttered, turning away from him. I couldn't just let them all go. I had already lost one; I didn't need to lose any more. I _couldn't _lose any more.

"_At least it's better than none."_

I looked out over the Aether as those words echoed in my mind.

Notch was right. Even if only one of my friends accepted me in the end, it would still be so much better than none. I desperately wanted all of them to accept me, but in the end I would have no power over their decisions and I wouldn't dare if I did. Even if they didn't, I'd still think of them all as friends.

We've been through too much together to let this tear us apart. I have to fix this, or at least try.

I stood up suddenly, filled with determination.

"_Your decision?" _Notch asked expectantly.

"_I'm fixing my mess," _I stated. _"It's about time they knew, anyways."_ Notch smiled warmly towards me and nodded. I turned and almost jumped into Asmund's saddle, but I stopped myself. Instead, I turned back around and gave my older brother a huge hug. "Thanks for the talk. I needed it."

"_Any time, little brother," _he said, returning the embrace. After a second, he pulled away and looked me dead in the eye, and with an authoritative tone, he said, _"now go and fix what you started."_

In response, I jabbed a finger at him and yelled, _"You're not my mom! You can't tell me how to live my life!" _I jumped up into Asmund's saddle as Notch laughed and bade me farewell and good luck. I smiled and waved before giving the command, and Asmund took to the air.

…

I couldn't land in the town, for obvious reasons, so I had Asmund land in the clearing behind my house. As I jumped down from his saddle I said_," alright bud, just wait here until I get back. I anyone sees you, just kinda- hide."_

Asmund just tilted his head and looked at me as if I had said 'walk.' He was just playing, of course; he knew exactly what I was aaying.

"_I'll be back soon, Asmund!"_

I had only just turned around when Asmund suddenly let out a loud snort and trotted up behind me. I looked up at him. _"Asmund, you can't come with me. I'm sorry, but humans tend to freak out when I walk my Ender dragon down the street."_

Asmund huffed and pawed the ground.

"_Well what am I supposed to do?"_

Asmund just looked at me like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

"_Seroiusly?"_

Asmund lowered his head and looked at me with big, round, sad eyes. I fought with all my willpower to not give in. If I had to name just one weakness of mine, it would be Asmund's puppy eyes.

Five minutes later along with a spell to disable every single security camera and keep every single person in the area from looking in our general direction, and I was running down the neighborhood street with Asmund close behind me. Oh, the things I do to make you happy, Asmund.

My magic was telling me that the most recent place they had all been was Ant's house, so that's where we were going. I had no idea if they were still there or not (I'm not good at tracking more than five souls at a time). I finally arrived at his house and frantically knocked on the door as Asmund sat down in the middle of the front yard, curiously sniffing the car parked in the driveway.

Nobody answered, which worried me greatly, so I peeked in the window. Nobody was in there, as far as I could tell, but there was a note lying on the table. I warped in and picked it up.

I didn't even have to read it to know that something was very wrong.

_None _of my friends use squid ink to write.

…

**A/N: Oh, you didn't think the squids would get involved in this mess? **_**Think again. **_**Shit's gonna hit the fan and it ain't gonna be pretty.**

**Story questions!**

**What do you think the squids are up to this time?**

**Do you guys like Asmund?**

**Is there anything I can improve on?**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Squids are annoying and derpy, but eggplants suck. Same goes for anything tempura'd.**

**I frikin' love you of you know what I'm referencing.**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 9: The Squids Complicate Things.

Asmund cut through the air as I frantically urged him forward. My friends had been captured by squids, I was certain of it; all signs pointed to that. I needed to rescue them before something bad happened to them. I didn't care if I was accepted or not at this point. They were my friends and I'd do everything in my power to protect them. Even if this got me nowhere, I'd never be able to live with myself if any one of them got hurt because of the squids. The squids were _my_ enemies and_ mine_ alone, nobody should have gotten caught in the middle of our fighting.

I couldn't help but feel that this was all my fault.

I could see the ocean in the distance, and its salty tang had entered the air. I urged Asmund to fly faster. Once we were over the ocean, I could warp both of us to the Squid Dimension. That's where my friends' soul paths were leading me.

"_Wait! Wait! Slow down!"_

Shocked at hearing a voice at this height, I whipped around and saw Bodil. He was trying to catch up to us, and he was pushing himself too hard. I quickly told Asmund to stop, and the Bulgarian angel practically crashed into the saddle and collapsed, panting. I immediately helped him sit up as he caught his breath.

"_What are you doing here?" _I asked with concern lacing my voice.

"_Following you," _he panted.

"_Bodil, this is dangerous."_

"_I don't care! You're not doing this alone."_

Bodil was a very stubborn angel and it would take far too long to convince him to head back, and for that reason I let him come with us.

As soon as we were over the water, I closed my eyes and summoned up the power needed for the warp. Warping myself alone was easy, warping myself and an angel _and_ an Ender dragon was hard.

I felt a pulse, and suddenly we were in the Squid Dimension. I steered Asmund to the left towards a large structure made of blue stone. That's where my friends were being kept.

"_Bodil, duck and hang on," _I instructed, and he did so with a grin. He knew what we were about to do. _"Alright, Asmund, you ready for this?" _I asked, leaning forward and rubbing his neck.

He let out a confident growl,, and folded his wings and angled forward into a dive, aimed for the side of the structure opposite where my friends were, for obvious reasons. His scales began to glow violet and I ducked as far into the saddle as I could go.

The structure didn't stand a chance. Asmund rammed a hole straight through to the other side.

"_Woohoo!"_

"_Good job, Asmund!" _I cheered and hugged his neck as he let out a rumbly roar of triumph. Asmund looped through the air and gently touched down right in front of the end of the tunnel through the structure. _"Alright, you two, I need you to go find Ant," _I instructed them. _"I can't sense him here." _I leapt out of the saddle as Bodil moved to the front of the saddle.

"_Can do, buddy!" _he shouted down and gave me a thumbs-up. _"Alright, Asmund! Let's go save Ant!" _As they took off, I teleported into the tunnel Asmund had created. I could sense the rest of my friends nearby, and I was close enough to read their emotions.

I sensed fear.

Before I could do anything about it, magic that was not my own forced me to teleport. I was ripped from my current location, sent spiraling through space-time, and spat out onto cold stone bricks. I had a brief moment to look around- wherever I was looked a lot like the Cops n Robbers prison- before the same magic as before roughly snagged me off the floor and hoisted me into the air.

"**Well, how nice of you to drop by, Herobrine," **a deep, familiar voice boomed. Derpollolus Squid Overlord smirked evilly as he held me up with his magic.

"Tell me where my friends are," I demanded. I was not in the mood for this.

"**My my, have those burning white eyes of yours gone blind?" **the giant squid asked mockingly. **"They're all right here, safe and sound." **He gestured around him, and I realized that they were all in the prison cells. The only reason I hadn't noticed before was because they hadn't made any noise. They were still scared, too much so to yell out or anything of the like. Their fear had actually doubled since I had entered the room.

They're afraid of me.

It felt like someone had just plunged a sword straight through my heart.

I don't want them to fear me, they shouldn't fear me. But now they do, all because of who I am. Who they _think _I am. I need to show them who I really am.

I know exactly how to do that.

"**What are you smiling for?" **Derpollolus's irritated voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, nothing much. Say, why'd you invite us all here in the first place? You wanna play a round of Cops n Robbers? You can be the cop!"

"**What- no." **the giant squid frowned at me. **"I intend to exact my revenge on you."**

"Uh huh, and how exactly are you planning on doing that when I'm obviously better than you?"

Derpy snarled at me. **"My Squid Army has you greatly outnumbered, and even so my power over the elements here greatly surpasses yours," **he stated proudly. **"You and your pathetic human friends are like tiny bugs under my tentacles, and I shall take great pleasure in crushing you."**

"Yeah? Well, a Rhinoceros beetle can lift 850 times its own weight, so we could just lift up your tentacles and not get crushed." I could sense the fear from my friends decreasing a little, replaced by confusion. That was good, but I needed to keep it up.

Derpollolus glared at me. **"I have high doubts of your ability to do that. I am far heavier that you could possibly lift."**

"So, you're admitting that you're fat?" That seemed to do the trick. I grinned as I heard several shocked snickers come from my friends. The Squid Lord looked shocked and then snarled at me. I was expecting it when one of his giant tentacles grabbed me. He brought me right up to his face and I just grinned.

"**I am not fat, I just happen to have a dense muscle mass," **Derp seethed.

"But you just said that-"

"**I AM NOT FAT!" **he roared. Three of my friends full-on lost it. My cheeky grin only widened.

"Also, your breath smells like dead fish." The next thing I knew, I was being thrown to the ground with a force that would normally kill a human. I just licked myself up off the stones and dusted off my shirt as I muttered, "rude. Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's impolite to throw people?" Derpollolus loomed over me, seething.

"**You will pay for those words, scum!" **the oversized squid roared.

"Cash or credit?" I asked casually, pulling out my wallet. Derpollolus looked at me in utter disbelief. Then he kinda flipped out.

"**That is it!" **Suddenly I was being grabbed and brought up to his face again. **"I have had enough of your idiocy, and your friends shall pay for it!" **The giant squid suddenly flung me across the prison. I slammed into the wall with such force that the stone bricks cracked upon impact. Stunned, I fell limply and hit the floor with a dull thud. I was dazed, semiconscious, my ears rang loudly and my body refused to move.

Suddenly the room was filled with screams.

That snapped me back to reality. I bolted to my feet in shock and horror. Derpollolus had them all suspended in midair, coils of water wrapped around their bodies like hungry pythons, constricting tighter with every strangled breath they took.

"Let them go!" I screamed and ran forward, but a magic barrier trapped me and I slammed right into it. That hardly discouraged me. I pounded my fists against the antimagic wall and screamed and shouted frantically. "Let them go! They did nothing wrong! I'm the one you should be hurting! Please, just let them go!"

They were going to die. All my friends, they were all going to die and it was all my fault because I was stupid and selfish and scared and I kept them in the dark for so long.

Derpollolus just watched me with an evil grin. **"All of them?" **he asked calmly.

"Yes! Let all of them go!"

"**Even this one?" **The squid lord held up a tentacle, and I noticed someone clutched in its grip. The moment I realized who it was, my heart nearly stopped.

It was Dawn.

…

**A/N: PLOT TWIST! Who expected that!?**

**The next chapter will be up in about a week, so in the meantime, read, review, do whatever as long as it's legal, and I'll see you guys later!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **_**Nyoom.**_** Also I have no idea how to write out epic fight scenes. I hope watching all those Avatar: The Last Airbender bending battles helped a little.**

**I listened to Legend of Zelda music while I typed this up and I'm happy. :D**

**Double also, this chapter does have fighting, so there's obviously violence, but nothing too serious. Still, fair warning.**

**TRIPLE ALSO: I'm considering writing a sequel, but it'll probably be a while before I start writing it if I do. Also, Alesa will definitely be in the sequel if/when I write it. Because I ship SkyXAlesa like Fedex.**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 10: Fight Me

"D-Dawn…"

When she had found out my secret, she had disappeared. I was so terrified that the knowledge of who I really was had been too much for her, and that running away hadn't been enough. I can easily locate a person's soul in a matter of seconds, and I had never searched for hers because I was so terrified that she wouldn't be there anymore. But now...

Dawn is alive.

Dawn is okay.

Dawn is _back._

My mind just shut down. I slowly sank to my knees. I can feel myself shaking.

Dawn is alive, but now she's going to die, along with all my friends, and I can't do a damn thing about it. I can only watch as the life is squeezed out of them, and I can only listen to their precious breaths growing shorter and more labored.

They're dying, and it's all my fault.

"Stop this." My voice was shaking. "Let them go."

Derpollolus just hummed softly. **"Now, why do you think I'd do that, hm?" They're just puny, weak humans. Humans die. It's a part of nature. You can't do anything to prevent it, not now, and **_**certainly**_** not **_**then**_**." **My breath hitched in my throat.

_No._

"**Surely you should know this better than any of us."**

_Stop it._

"**Ah yes, you still remember **_**him**_**, don't you?"**

_I cried out as I got shoved to the ground. My whole body shrieked in pain. Armored soldiers held me down as I screamed and coughed up blood. There was blood streaming down my face and blurring my vision, but I could see him, held back by two soldiers. He screamed and kicked and struggled, trying to get to me. I could see the desperation written on his face._

"_Don't kill him! It wasn't his fault, he's innocent!"_

"_This demon murdered out King and tried to burn down the village!" a guard spat in his face. "There is nothing innocent about that!"_

"_That wasn't him! This is all a big mistake! Please, just let him go!" I saw tears streaming down his face. I struggled against the soldiers holding me down, but I was far too weak. I rasped for breath and coughed up more blood._

_A bolt of lightning spooked the horses nearby and the__y __charged. The soldiers dropped me and scrambled to get out of the way, screaming that the animals had been possessed._

_Suddenly he was by my side, gently helping me up._

"_I'm getting you out of here. You're going to die."_

_I tried to tell him that I can't die, and that he should save himself, but my slit throat burned and I choked on the blood in my windpipe._

_He still told me that everything would be alright. We'd make it to safety. This awful misunderstanding would become a thing of the past._

_Everything would be alright._

_A sword emerged from his chest, right through his heart._

_A ragged sob escaped my lips._

_Ben's body fell limp as the soldiers restrained me and dragged me away._

"Never again," I whispered. My voice shook.

"**I'm sorry, what was-"**

"**Never again!" **I screamed. **"I am not helpless! I am not weak!" And I will never let anyone I care about suffer the same fate Ben did!" **My glowing white eyes burned like the sun. **"Ben never deserved to die, and neither does anybody else in this room!" Nobody is going to die!"**

"**And what makes you so sure of that?"**

My burning gaze was locked onto him as my hands glowed with swirling red-violet magic. The antimagic barrier around me crackled as I overpowered it from the inside.

"**This is why."**

All of my friends disappeared in swirls of Nether particles and reappeared in the back of the room, protected by a dome of translucent red-orange magic. Derpollolus snarled on outrage and sent a huge jet of water directly at the dome. It hit and splashed off harmlessly. My magic did not falter in the slightest. My friends were safe.

"**What- How is that even possible!?" **the squid lord stammered. **"Those puny humans should be dead by now!"**

"**Too bad. They're recovering as we speak. As long as I draw breath, I will protect them."** I clenched my fists. **"I fight for my friends!"**

Derpollolus snarled at me.

My glare hardened.

"**Then **_**die**_**."**

The barrier surrounding me went down just as a powerful wave of water was sent crashing towards me. I teleported out of the way and onto the second floor balcony.

"You're too slow," I remarked placidly, leaning against the wall of an empty cell. The giant squid growled and lunged forward to try to grab me. I ducked at the last second and ran down the walkway.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my friends beginning to recover.

Something large and navy smashed the walkway I was on and I fell down to the first floor with the rubble. I thought fast and created a jet of air to launch me up to the third floor. Moments later, the rubble pile was doused with an enormous pet of water. I landed on a third floor balcony and quickly ducked into the shadows to avoid another jet of water blasted my way.

"**Why don't you strike back, almighty brother of Notch?" **Derpollolus taunted from below me.

"I don't fight," I responded. I never fought, ever. My plan was to continue evading until the squid lord exhausted himself.

"**Then you're weak."**

I felt something coil around my ankle, and suddenly I was yanked from my hiding spot and thrown into a stone pillar. The structure shattered like glass from the force of the impact and I slammed into the wall behind me. I was gripped again, thrown into the ceiling, and then slammed into the floor. I pushed myself up with a grunt, undeterred by the large bruises and cuts I had sustained.

Something flashed in my peripheral vision, and I teleported to avoid the giant tentacle trying to crush me. Derpollolus snarled in rage and frustration and threw a wall of water towards me, and in response I thrust my fist into the air, and a slab of the floor rose up as a shield. It almost got knocked over from the force of the water pounding against it. The moment I lowered it I saw Derpollolus flash-freezing water into giant ice spikes, all aimed directly at me.

I leapt out of the way as the first one was launched at me. It embedded itself in the wall with sickening force, and I slid underneath it to avoid the second one, skinning my knees in the process. The third I avoided with a well-timed backflip onto the first spike, and the fourth I melted with a blast of fire. The last two were launched at me together, and I raised a section of the floor to shatter them. I lowered it as ice shards scattered across the room. A fine mist of icy powder had been thrown into the air from the collision.

A wall nearby suddenly gave way as Asmund charged into the room with Ant and Bodil in the saddle. The moment Derpollolus went for them I already had a powerful gust of air whipped towards the giant icy spike, which knocked it out the hole in the wall. Ant saw me and I nodded towards the shield protecting my friends. I countered another blow from Derpollolus as Ant and Bodil directed Asmund towards the shield to get my friends to safety. The squid overlord snarled at me.

"**You'll pay for the damages to this place with your life," **he growled.

"Hit me with your best shot."

Derpollolus roared and sent a huge wall of water towards me, and I teleported in front of it. I didn't see the thin whip of semi-frozen water until it was too late, and it lashed me right across the eyes. I cried out in pain and stumbled backwards from the icy burning. A dirty trick, indeed; that squid had temporarily blinded me by freezing my eyes shut.

Too bad I could see with my eyes closed.

I calmed by breathing and focused, and waited for Derpollolus to make his move.

There, twenty yards in front of me, nine above me.

I dodged right and the torrent of water splashed harmlessly against the floor.

The squid lord roared in outrage. **"I blinded you! How in the name of Minecraftia did you dodge that!?"**

"You're not subtle," I replied gruffly. I heard water flash-freeze twenty-two yards ahead, eleven above, two to the right. I teleported far to the left and heard ice shatter on the floor where I'd just been.

As the squid lord screamed insults at me, I could feel the vibrations of his tentacles pounding on the floor. I could visualize the vibrations in my mind, spreading outward like ripples on a glassy pond. Every sound and every vibration that I perceived I immediately visualized in this way. That was why I was still going strong.

I felt subtle vibrations on the floor, like he was leaning forward to grab me. I leapt backwards and took off running to the right. The vibrations from my own feet hitting the floor told me when I had reached the other side of the room.

A sudden jet of water from right beneath me slammed me into the ceiling. I fell to the floor and suddenly Derpollolus had me gripped tightly in his tentacle. I heard him laugh when I tried to squirm free but to no avail.

I grit my teeth, knowing I'd have to hurt him in order to get free. I raised the temperature of the air around my body well past the boiling point of water, and the giant squid roared in pain and dropped me. The ice had melted from my eyes, and I could see again.

Holding his burned tentacle to his chest, Derpollolus sent a huge torrent of water straight towards me. I teleported to safety.

"Herobrine! Fight back already!" That was Ant, down on the first floor.

"No."

"Derpollolus is the enemy! Nobody cares if you hurt him!" That was Bodil.

_I care._

"He's not going to stop until we're all dead! Just fight!"

"**Your friend is weak," **Derpollolus mocked, and threw a huge ice shard at me. I warped to the second floor. **"He is a coward, that is why he does not fight."**

"I don't fight because I don't want to cause pain," I said.

"He's the bad guy! Bad guys deserve pain!" Bodil called.

"**Be quiet!" **Derpollolus hissed, and fired a torrent of water at Ant and Bodil. I shot a fireball down to intercept it, and the two collided with a hissing explosion of steam.

"Not ever fighting back is just as weak as starting fights! Knowing _when _to fight back is strong! You're not weak, you're strong!"

Nothing was protecting my friends.

I teleported in front of Asmund and conjured up another magic shield the moment before the wave hit. I strained to keep it active against the pounding water. Between being blinded and Ant's and Bodil's attempted motivation, I'd lost focus on the original shield protecting my friends.

Now they and Asmund were safe again.

Derpollolus was not, because I had made my decision. My own morals could wait.

The moment the wave receded, I struck back for the first time.

I swung my arm out in front of me, and sent an enormous arc of flames straight towards Derpollolus. The giant squid had no time to dodge. He roared in pain from the searing mark across his torso. He fired back. I teleported closer with air whirling around my arm like a miniature hurricane. I outstretched my arm, and the spiraling air launched and hit him across the face with enough force to leave a mark. Derpollolus hissed and sent an arc of semi frozen water at me, and I launched myself with a gust onto the second floor. I landed in a crouch, like an animal on the hunt, and leapt out of the way of a blast of water thrown my way. My fists were alight with flames, and I sent a volley of fireballs towards my target. I warped down to the first floor while the giant squid was still stunned, and slammed my foot onto the stones. A chunk of the floor in front of me was tossed into the air, and I sent it flying with a powerful roundhouse kick. It slammed into the squid lord's side and he howled in pain Several huge torrents of water were suddenly being prepared to be blasted my way.

An arrow cut through the air and embedded itself in Derpollolus's side.

In shock, I looked over to my friends. They were all in a fight over a bow. Which one of them just shot that?

"**Which one of you puny humans dares attempt to harm me!?" **Derpollolus roared, and aimed the water torrents towards my friends. Before he could actually do anything, I slammed my fist into the floor and turned the section of floor that Derpollolus was on into a launch pad. The giant squid was thrown into that air, slammed into the ceiling, and hit the floor face-flat. He couldn't push himself upright.

He growled at me with fury in his eyes. **"You will die today." **He raised his tentacle into the air, and a sparking orb of pure, raw magic began to form above it. His eyes were locked onto me, and I prepared to dodge at a moment's notice. Magic such as this was very dangerous; I could actually die if I got hit. He truly wanted to hurt me, didn't he?

Then I realized: he wasn't looking at me.

He was aiming for my friends.

I teleported just as he fired. I was hit right in the chest, and everything went dark.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Mainly filler, but important post-final battle filler. Also, we've boarded the feels train again.**

**Minecraft does not belong to me.**

…

Chapter 11: Sacrifice

The moment Herobrine went down was when all hell broke loose. Ant cried out and raced towards his fallen friend as Notch teleported into the room and attacked Derpollolus with a blow from his hammer that sent the giant squid right through the back wall. Bodil charged forwards with a heavenly weapon of his own to avenge his friend.

Ant could feel tears spilling from his eyes as he kneeled by his friend's limp body, whose chest was now marked by a ragged, gaping burn. Blood welled up quick and fast, dyeing his blue shirt a deep and rich purple. Yet, his face was calm and his eyes were closed, as if he was in a peaceful sleep.

Asmund had padded over softly, and nudged Herobrine's hand with a whimper. The god did not respond. Ant wordlessly rubbed the dragon's head.

There were no words that could undo the damage or ease the pain, so nobody dared speak.

All of this was wrong.

None of this should be happening.

Nobody should be getting hurt.

"A-Ant?" His voice was a hoarse whisper, and his white eyes glowed weakly. "Is everyone… okay?"

Ant shook his head as more tears welled up in his eyes. "No. Herobrine, you're not okay, you're-"

"Ant, I… I don't c-care. I-Is everyone else o-kay?"

Ant swallowed thickly. He could be _dying,_ and all he cared about was the safety of his friends. "Yeah. Yeah, everyone else is okay."

He gave a tiny nod and his eyes closed once more.

Ant swore softly. "What did you ever do to deserve this?" he whispered. All he had ever wanted to do was make people happy and keep them from harm, and what had he gotten in return? He got shot in the chest, that's what.

"He did nothing wrong," Notch said, kneeling by his little brother's fallen form. "It is his kindness that is his undoing." A single tear rolled down the stoic god's cheek, and he gently lifted his fallen brother from the floor and cradled him in his arms. "That spell was powerful enough to kill you all," Notch told them. "If my brother hadn't taken it for you, none of you would be alive."

Those last words before both of them vanished in the light sounded like a threat.

Ant stood up slowly and wiped a few tears from his eyes. "We're going home." Bodil silently helped him climb into Asmund's saddle with everyone else. The dragon took flight.

…

The ride home was in silence. Nobody dared break it. An oppressive, cluttered aura of emotion hung over them like fog, and so much clouded their minds.

Sky was Herobrine.

Ant was a deity.

Dawn was back.

Gods could bleed.

Herobrine was gravely injured, maybe even dying.

Herobrine had sacrificed himself to save them.

The truths of the lies they'd believed for years had come crashing down on them all at once. They could barely comprehend it all, and yet the world went on as if nothing were wrong.

The sun shone strong, the birds sang, a gentle breeze swayed the leaves and flowers and grasses. It was like a mask to conceal what was wrong.

It was like a disguise.

When Asmund finally landed and everyone went home, there had been no goodbyes. Nobody talked to each other for the rest of the day. All plans were discarded. Everyone was just tired. Everyone needed rest. But the night was sleepless. There was too much on their minds to even think about sleep.

Reality had slammed into them full-force and left its mark, and yet the world went on as if nothing was wrong.


End file.
